'Bright Star's' Ben Whishaw Turns Steadfast

Ben Whishaw is so thoughtful and soft-spoken that you don't dare interject when he pauses – and he pauses a lot. For a journalist with a relatively short time limit with the British actor, it is equal parts frustrating and refreshing. Frustrating because you wish you could peer into Whishaw's head to see exactly what he means (prior to the thoughts getting caught up in everyday verbiage) and refreshing because so few film stars dare to offer reporters answers that are not canned or watered down.

Whishaw was in Toronto last week to attend the Toronto film festival premiere of Jane Campion's 'Bright Star,' in which he plays poet John Keats. The film takes place in the last few years of Keats' life when he forged a relationship with his neighbour, Fanny Brawne (Australian actress Abbie Cornish). The duo embarked on a passionate love affair only to have it cut off abruptly by Keats' death, at age 25, from tuberculosis.